


casually cruel in the name of being honest

by orphan_account



Category: Succession (TV 2018)
Genre: Betrayal, Complex feelings, Follows Season 1 (and partially 2), Friends With Benefits, M/M, Possibly Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:40:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26643886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Don't you know that Stewy doesn't lie?
Relationships: Stewy Hosseini/Kendall Roy
Comments: 1
Kudos: 36





	casually cruel in the name of being honest

Stewy doesn’t lie. That doesn’t mean he’s honest or that he tells the truth. He just doesn’t lie. If you don’t lie, you can’t get caught. It’s better to say blanket statements and half truths and misguided implications. Stewy’s silver tongue is, without a doubt, his best weapon. You can’t trust Stewy, but you can trust Stewy. So when he says:  _ Kendall, man, you don’t want this _ and Kendall replies with  _ why not _ , Stewy just repeats himself. Kendall’s sighs and says  _ you’re the best choice I’ve got.  _ Stewy nods and smiles and doesn’t feel an ounce of guilt when he “saves” Kendall’s ass. After all, he gave his warning. What happens happens. Sandy buzzes with glee when he tells him about their newfound in.

He doesn’t feel guilty when he abstains from the vote. He told Kendall  _ no _ . You can’t trust Stewy where there’s money involved. He never pretended to be anything other than he is. It’s not his fault Kendall can’t put a fucking basic vote together-- Rome wasn’t even on his side in the end. He does feel something when he sees Kendall burst into the conference room, all wide eyed and looking at everyone for reassurance he won. Something akin to pity maybe. He feels bad for Kendall, of course he does, he was  _ so _ close to overthrowing Logan. And Stewy cares for Kendall, he does, and he regrets how the outcome of his failed vote is going to affect him but he can’t find any guilt in him over his own lack of action. Not even when Kendall is fired. Not when Kendall is escorted out. He didn’t promise anything or lie; there’s no blood on his hand, no real betrayal no matter how Kendall might feel.

That doesn’t make it hurt less when Kendall won’t look at him in the club. He expected it, he’s not an idiot. He didn’t expect Kendall to immediately forgive him, not logically. But Kendall’s never been this mad at him before and never for this long and part of him had just expected Kendall to give him a soft smile and be able to fucking look at Stewy again and pretend nothing bad had ever happened just like every other time one of them had messed up. And when Kendall says they’re good, Stewy wants to say  _ liar _ , but he doesn’t. He doesn’t need to get further in Kendall’s bad books, not with what he’s going to reveal tonight.

Kendall reacts differently than Stewy thought he would. Better. He grabs the bull by its horns, he wants in. He’s ambitious and stubborn and a bit savage about it. Stewy wants to kiss him, so he does the second they have an ounce of privacy, and it’s so obvious Kendall doesn't forgive him despite the fact he kisses back. Kendall kisses like he’s trying to bruise him. Stewy lets him, lets him wrinkle his favorite shirt, lets him do this with his girlfriend in the other room, lets him bite hard enough to draw blood without wincing. He lets him because he hopes it’ll help Kendall forgive him, he lets him do it because he feels like he deserves it a little bit, he lets him because there’s not much he wouldn’t let Kendall do to him. Kendall leaves him aching and without a smile. 

It still hurts, the only real difference now is that he looks like as much of a mess as he feels. Stewy’s girlfriend knows him well enough to not blink at the obvious dishevelment. He likes that about her. She gets it, she gets that Stewy will always act in his own self-interest, whether it be business or pleasure. She’s fine with it. He wishes a certain someone else was too. It is what it is. Some things you can’t change, no matter how much time.

Stewy goes to Kendall’s apartment. It’s not his style and he doesn’t really like it, if it wasn’t Kendall’s he wouldn’t be in it. But it is Kendall’s and because of that the decor that he finds to be plain and boring is edging on endearing.  _ You’re not going to fuck me over again, right? We’re past that, right?  _ Kendall asks him, sitting in a tan armchair, back straight, eyes guarded, words balancing between accusatory and asking for reassurance. Stewy looks at him, thinking about what to say. Kendall is a skittish dog. Kendall is his oldest friend. The money is there.  _ Ken, I promise you, I will not fuck you over on this.  _ Kendall loses all the fight in him-- at least against Stewy, and his body sags a bit, relaxing into his chair.  _ Good. That’s, uh, good.  _ He knows Stewy doesn’t lie. 

They fuck. It’s not their first time. They just haven’t done it in a while but not so long ago that they’ve forgotten what the other is like. Not so long ago that they’ve forgotten the routine. It’s a familiar scene. Stewy puts his hand on Kendall’s knee, Kendall’s eyes dilate and he melts into the touch a bit. Kendall wets his lips. They’ve done it many times, but it never feels less electric, even when they get older and the taboo quality lessens. Kendall laughs into Stewy’s shoulder  _ not gonna fuck me over, huh?  _

Ken always knocks out afterwards, Stewy supposed he should take it as a compliment, but it does make things awkward. There’s something about sneaking out on your best friend that does feel a bit slimy. Stewy doesn’t do it right away though. He listens to Kendall’s heavy breathing, looks at him, wrapped in sheets and the slope of his nose and his relaxed face. It makes something in him ache. Always has.

Stewy is quiet as he creeps out, quiet as he collects his garments, quiet as he closes the door. Stewy doesn’t see the need to label every single, how he feels about Kendall being one of them. Sure, he can admit certain things. He cares for Kendall. He’s friends with Kendall. Hell, he can even admit he loves Kendall, but only in a friend capacity. He doesn’t feel the need to label whatever his aching stems from nor his desperation. He doesn’t try to put it in words. Words have powers. Words are real. You can’t lie about the unnamed or the unsaid. Stewy is quiet when he walks back in twenty minutes later, outrageously expensive cronuts in hand.

Stewy’s sitting in the armchair that isn’t even that comfortable, scrolling on his phone when he hears footsteps padding closer. He doesn’t look up. He knows what Kendall probably looks like, shocked and a little sleepy. Stewy has too much pride to start this conversation, he feels like he’s already given too much.  _ Oh, hey, man. _ It’s easy enough to read the tone and Stewy looks up  _ good morning, sleepy beauty. I got you something to eat, you’re all bone, bro. It’s not healthy.  _ Kendall smiles, sarcastically say  _ aw, I didn’t know you cared _ . Stewy’s stomach twists, this is something he wants but something he doesn’t want.

It doesn’t stop. They skirt around playing domesticity. They become closer business partners. They become closer friends. They grab beers and they fuck. They order take out sometimes afterwards and they talk. They meet at Stewy’s nice and minimalist apartment. They talk about the future-- business wise. It gets harder for Stewy to not think about what this feeling is or what their relationship is becoming.

Stewy is technically Kendall’s plus one to Shiv’s wedding (much to everyone's amusement) and they’re so close they can taste it. They’re actually going to do it. It’s going to work. Logan’s days are numbered. Kendall’s going to take over. His pockets will do well. It’ll be good. Kendall is especially high energy, a mix of giddy and anxiety, he can’t take his hands off Stewy. It’s like this, Stewy feels good next to Kendall, by his side. Likes the duo they’re about to make. Cocaine and theatrics and messy handjobs and their plan in action, it’s how things should be. Next week Kendall will be CEO and nothing will change and everything will change. 

Then Kendall bails, and it says something that Stewy isn’t angry initially. No, he’s  _ worried _ . Kendall lies, but he never thought Kendall would be the one to betray him. Not really. It is Kendall after all. It doesn’t even cross his mind Kendall would betray them until Sandy says it. And the bastard won’t answer his calls. And it seems pretty clear. One second he’s so angry, he’s smashing dishes in his kitchen, the next he is speculating in a detached way if this is how Kendall felt all those months ago. He finds he doesn’t care. Stewy didn’t fucking lie, Kendall did. Kendall got them in too deep and now his and Sandy’s hands are exposed. And he won’t pick up his phone. He stops after the second day. What does it matter anyway? Stewy won’t believe anything that he says.  _ Liar _ .

Kendall stands in front of him with the big eyes and the sad mouth and Stewy gives him an out. Kendall doesn’t take it. It says everything.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> title from all too well by Taylor Swift. because the lyrics "Maybe we got lost in translation / Maybe I asked for too much / But maybe this thing was a masterpiece / 'Til you tore it all up"


End file.
